I get the sense of excitement and the feeling of giddiness that out of one of these rooms, we will birth a discovery that will change the world.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Ryan Schueler walked into Charger Union on Wednesday for the first time and "I had chills. It just kind of hit me. It blew me away."

This is what he imagined in 2006 when, as SGA president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, he addressed the UA System Board of Trustees about the need for a student center at the system's Huntsville campus.

That vision became a reality Wednesday when the $25 million, 97,000-square foot student center was formally opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Schueler was among those holding a pair of scissors.

"I guess you could say I was the initial one who went to the board and was whining a bit about how we needed a student center," Schueler said with a laugh.

Indeed, UAH President Robert Altenkirch - during his public comments at the ceremony -- credited Schueler with starting that push for a student center.

Schueler, who now works in finance at Boeing's strategic missile defense systems, was SGA president during the 2005-2006 academic year and everywhere he went, he heard the same thing.

"During my term, I'd realized that a common consensus among students was that they wanted a student center," he said. "As my outgoing speech to the board, I highlighted some other accomplishments and things that were important.

"But I had one message to get across to the board for that year on behalf of the students. It was my opportunity to plant that seed with the board and let them know that's what students want. I just used the opportunity to speak on behalf of the students. I heard it all year long. It was just a common theme on campus."

School officials consider Charger Union an integral part of an effort to transform the campus to a more traditional setting rather than the commuter school for which the school has long been known. It's centrally located on campus and immediately becomes a prominent campus icon as it stretches along the south side of Holmes Avenue.

"The presence of this building will transform the student life experience for many generations of UAH students," Dean of Students Regina Hyatt said.

The current SGA president at UAH, Nandish Dayal, talked of the possibilities that could emerge from a state-of-the-art student center.

"As I walk through this building," he said, "I get the sense of excitement and the feeling of giddiness that out of one of these rooms, we will birth a discovery that will change the world. The wide open spaces invoke the sense of limitless possibilities and the hope that we will grow beyond what we can see or imagine."

After all, Schueler agreed, life beyond the classroom is a critical part of a college student's education.

"The thing the university center allows is for extracurricular organizations and the things that come out of that which you might not get in academia," he said. "Leadership skills, organizational skills, time management skills, communication skills while you're participating in these organizations.

"I think that's a key in the total collegiate experience is having the academic but also there are opportunities to be involved in organizations where you learn interpersonal skills that you might not learn in class."

It's a new home for students but, Dayal said, the student center is much more, too.

"Charger Union isn't just located at the heart of our campus," he said. "It is the heart of our campus. It extends beyond that and is the heart of our UAH family."